Well, 4:26:xx. A nearly one hour PR. I'll take it. With the gps interference from the overpasses and buildings I did the first 10k WAY too fast. I hit a 5:30 half marathon PR in the first half. The quads rebelled at about mile 19. I'm still really happy. For the next race I'm going to focus on getting my weight down, cause I think that just durability is what's holding me back in the late miles. I still had gas in the tank, but my legs felt beat up. Still, I now have a PR that doesn't require an explanation like the 5:24:xx at Disney.

Y'all, I'm a marathoner! 5:11 for me today in Chicago, slower than I'd like but I'll take it. Felt super for the first 15, then tired, then just plain had to gut it out for the last few miles, with more walking breaks than ideal. But I toughed it out, finished, and had a smile on (sort of) throughout.

First time in the turtle room and feel like I've found my home just by reading all of your stories! Ran my first full yesterday, Hartford CT and was hoping for sub 4, came through with 4:08:32 and happy with that. My goals were to finish strong, run the whole way, and feel good enough afterward to be eager to do it again - those goals were met!

I started running about 16 months ago, 5k Sept 2012, 2 halfs, and now the full. It's still surreal that it's over after 4 or more months of preparation. It was a great day!

Darth-GREAT JOB! A one hour PR, did i read that right??? That is huge!!!! Very happy for you!

RDR-Congrats on completing your first and smilin too!!! Can't wait until I can say that too, it gives me encouragement to hear the stories from the newbies!!!! Celebrate tonight and all next week!!! You'll always remember thefirst!!!

NC42-Welcome to the turtles, it 's a great group and great job on the first!

Milking the cow??? You are back from France right? Did you really milk a cow or am i playing blonde now?

Can't wait to hear the reports!!! Finished a 40 mile week and very happy, new high for me...was able to get my 15 LR in Hawaii!!!! Back to work tomorrow..uugh.

I'm back lol I'm just being lazy all day getting back to the right time zone. At work if employees aren't doing any work we say milkman as in Harry hood or if u come in to work late we would say. Bankers hrs huh lol

nice job on ur long run in Hawaii , I need to go back the it's beautiful

Darth- Awesome PR! Congrats on a great run. Mile 19 was where I started to feel it too!

RDR- Congrats on your first marathon! Mine went about the same way, but since it's our first we naturally PR, so we have something to celebrate regardless! I had a really good start, but around mile 19 my legs turned into jello and my calves felt like they were in knots. and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get them to move any faster.

NC- Welcome! You are a fast turtle! What an awesome time on you first full, congrats!

Tracey- Congrats on the 40 mile week. My highest mileage week was 36. Hoping to work my way up to around 50 a week, build a base, then work on speed!

Me- Finished my first marathon today in 4:54:04. If you would like a more detailed recap, I posted photos and mile break downs on my blog. too tired and lazy right now to type anymore...

Rainy and Allyson - CONGRATULATIONS, MARATHONERS!!! Sounds like good first marathon experience, with an appropriate amount of suffering to make you realize what a huge deal you accomplished!

Darth - Great job on the PR!!! Knocking an hour off your time is awesome. I didn't get back to the hotel to my phone til about 30 min after you finished, so I had the 4 tracking texts and read them in order to build the suspense. When I read your hm split I thought "this is going to either be awesome or painful at the end." Way to hang in at the end for such an amazing pr.

Tracy - Good job getting your LR in in Hawaii! Can't say I'm feeling sorry for you. Except for the going back to work tomorrow thing.

New42 - Congrats on your first marathon and a great time!! Are you planning #2 yet. They are kind of addictive.

Me - Had a good hm today. Given the hills, even when I decided to go all in, I was just gunning for sub 2:02 and sub-2 was a dream. Stayed ahead of the 2:00 pace group until mile 11.xx when they passed me on yet another uphill. Kept them in sight most of the way in. Poured everything I had left into the last full mile (8:47) and the very last 0.22 (8:14) but came in just short at 2:00:23. Still extremely pleased with that, as it's my 3rd best time ever (out of 13 hms) and the 2 faster ones were on really flat courses. Plus, Garmy says I ran 13.22, so I actually ran a 9:07 pace, if only I'd paid more attention to my tangents... But I'm not complaining. It was a great race and I had fun and I know I left everything on the course and that's pretty much all I could wish for.

Looking forward to hearing from our other marathoners, and maybe seeing some RR's soon?

Allyson and RDR - Congrats marathoners! I'd like to +1 everything that Murphy said about the suffering. Allyson - Post marathon blues happen a lot - it can be so anti-climatic after the race! Maybe that's why so many of us keep setting new goals to look toward.

Darth - I know it's not the time that you wanted, but a 1-hour PR is massive. Congrats to you!

Murphy - Sounds like your bridge repeats are working - you told those hills who was boss!

Welcome to the new folks!

My Steamtown race didn't go as planned - it ended up being a PW for me but I knew it would be around mile 15 or so. I got sick during the race (and after) and had to walk a lot because of it. But after last year's DNF when I pushed it too much when I knew I shouldn't be pushing it and couldn't finish, I just wanted to avoid the medics this time and get to the finish line. RR to come!

One of my toenails is starting to fall off from the race yesterday... now I really feel like a true marathoner!

I would like to prevent it from happening next time though. I know they make toe socks to run in, and I have heard of people rubbing Vaseline on their feet before a race. Any advice so I can attempt to avoid this next time?

Allyson-GREAT JOB!!! You finished and that is a great race report and blog that you have!!! Very inspirational to read, it helps me with the anxiety i have over my upcoming LR....I think it's normal to get those post race blues, I do even after the halfs, so I guess that's why we jump in to see what is next on the horizon!!! Your mom and you could be twins!!! Good genes!!!

Freckles-Fantastic job on pushing through and finishing to the end!!! The mind games are harder than anything at times (although i've never done a full), but i can imagine it's the same...but you did it!!! Congrats!!!!

Murphy-Way to finish strong and leave it all out there!!! You got the sub 2:02 which was the primary goal right? I know we all look for the dream goal, but it gives you something to shoot for next time!!! And with the hills are you kidding??? You easily could have done sub 2:00 without them i'm sure. It sounds like you had a great time and really pushed your limits, and know what you can do next time. Mission accomplished!

So rest to our racers today!

I have a 6 miler after work, still battling the time zone changes and couldn't get my butt up early so i'll do it tonight!!! But I love these 83 degree days!!! Very doable!!!!

Well Ladies/Gentleman! I'm a Marathoner!!!! WOOHOOO!! It was a tough one for me, but I did it.. here is my report.

Race morning I got up at 4am. First, I changed into my clothes, and then warmed up some gluten free pancakes I had made the night before. I drank a glass of water. The 2nd pancake didn’t want to go down as easy. I guess it could have been nerves. My husband and I made sure we had everything we needed before we picked up my dad and headed out. The drive to Baltimore (a little over an hour from home) was pretty uneventful. We all talked and I mostly just tried to stay calm. Coming into Baltimore we hit standstill traffic, but because my husband works there, he took some short cuts. We were parked at about 6:50am in the Ravens Stadium parking lot. We had to walk about.. half a mile to get over to the “Runners village”. At this point almost everyone was marathon runners (it started at 8am, whereas the half didn’t start until 9:45am) and it wasn’t busy at all. I walked right up to a porto potty. First time ever at any race that happened! LOL. We stood around for a bit, and I tried to eat a larabar because I was starting to feel a little hungry, but I couldn’t eat it and felt sick when I tried so I tossed it. At around 7:40 I decided to head over to where the race would line up, and there were SO many people! The sidewalks were swamped and I couldn’t even see where the lineup was as opposed to the crowd. I finally found my way to the 13mm pace sign and planted myself there. During the national anthem I thought I might cry. This is it. I am doing this… right now. I was so anxious for the start. I just wanted to get going. I heard the gun and got a hug from my dad, and a kiss from my husband and off I went, walking to the start.

I crossed the start line and started jogging. I’m taking everything in.. look down at my watch. 12:30. Oops. I need to slow down, already! I really didn’t want to make the mistake of going out too fast and had to make a conscious effort to slow myself down.

Mile 1- Feeling good. Going slow, but getting irritated(and surprised) at how many people are already walking! There was a group of about 6 women who were lined all in a row across the road. You couldn’t get around them. RUDE! Get out of the way!

Miles 3/4/5- Still feeling great! Following a man wearing a “50 state marathoner” marathon maniac shirt, who was very cheerful and talking to everyone! He was keeping a 13mm pace and I felt pretty comfortable right behind him. Made sure I took water at every stop (every 2 miles)

Mile 6- Grabbed water and a bag of chips. Yes- Chips! They had other items like donuts, and things, but I have celiac disease and can’t have that stuff. I ran more than half a mile enjoying my bag of salty chips. I laughed with some other runners, about how I don’t think ever in my life I’ve run and eaten a bag of chips. I lost the 50 states guy back at mile 4 or 5. They stopped completely at a water stop and I just wanted to keep moving.

Miles 7/8- Still feeling really good. Running very calm, and relaxed! Starting to get close to the inner harbor where a lot of crowds are. A woman on the side of the road says to me “look how relaxed you are! Great job!” I replied “I’ve got a long way to go!” and little did I know things were going to start looking down very shortly.

Mile 9 – Starting to feel the slightest pain in my groin area. Like the muscles that connect from my hip bones down to the top of my legs. It wasn’t too bad at this point, but it was enough to alarm me. At this point we are coming through and we can see faster marathoners coming the other way at their halfway point. Everyone looked good.

Miles 10/11/12- Over these couple miles, things with my legs progressed with going downhill. My legs were getting sore, and quickly. I noticed my lower back was starting to hurt as well. We went through Federal Hill and passed the Under Armor plant. That was pretty cool. We lost a lot of crowd support during these miles but mile 12 leads back into Inner harbor again. Grabbed a banana from a man standing in the street in Fed Hill. I was thankful for it.

Mile 13- I see my husband and dad and they are cheering for me loudly. I give them a look of “I’m in pain” but high five them and keep going. Once they are out of sight, I stop for the first time and walk. My half time was the worst of any half’s I’ve ever done. 2:57. Holy crap. I start to feel emotional. This means a 6 hour marathon. I feel like giving up, but keep moving for now. I see all the half runners, and faster marathoners who are done at this point watching from the sidewalks.

Miles 14/15/16- Walk..run…walk..run. This is all that went on during these miles. Lots of hills, not a lot of crowd support. I was hurting.. bad. I didn’t know how I was going to run 10 more miles, but I told myself “just get to mile 20.” My lower back pain was becoming more and more pronounced.

Mile 17- I felt really nauseous and had to stop for a second and stretch. I got going again and I was VERY surprised to see my Husband and Dad had trekked all the way out here, seemingly the middle of nowhere to cheer me on! I felt my eyes well up, but held my tears back. I started running as soon as I saw them. I gave them another high five and could hear them cheering even after I was gone. Again, once out of sight, I had to stop for a walk break. I didn’t want them to see HOW bad I was feeling and doing. A friend from work had texted me to say “keep going!” this helped a bit.

Miles 18/19/20- These were the worst miles for me. I cried. I pondered why the hell I ever wanted to do this. I thought about HOW far away I still was from the finish. Runners were becoming more and more spaced out. I was running alone a good bit. No one to talk to. My legs hurt, my back hurt even worse, and mentally I was suffering. Mile 20 we hit Lake Montabello and it started raining and the wind picked up. There were no crowds out here, and even the photographers looked bored as they were perched, just waiting for us slow runners to come by. I was emotional again. I held my hand up to one photographer and just said “no” and she pulled her camera away.

Mile 21- something happened this mile. Something clicked in my brain as I had never gone further than 20 miles. I told myself that no matter what, I was finishing this race. I pictured myself crossing the finish line, and getting my medal. I went into my zone. I put my head down and ran as long as could, and then I’d walk. It was still lightly raining, and police were getting a little more relaxed with traffic. It was making me a little nervous.

Miles 22/23- I counted down miles at this point. At mile 22 I thought “only 4 miles!! You’ve come this far, 4 miles is NOTHING!” and the same when I got to 23. I heard someone say “Only a 5k!!” and I ran/walked some more. I saw the people dressed in the tiger suits singing “Eye of the Tiger” and it made me smile. I knew at mile 23 I would do this. I knew that nothing would stop me now. I ran more than I walked at this point, because running actually hurt LESS than walking.

Mile 24- At a water stop, I witnessed a man having a seizure on the ground. It was awful. I didn’t stop for water. I knew at this point I’d be okay. The man started moaning so loudly I could hear it for nearly quarter of a mile. He was in so much pain. I’m still not sure what happened with him, but the sound of his pain still haunts me. So over the next mile, I thought about how lucky I was to have made it this far and still be aware of my surroundings and what was going on. I felt really in touch with myself.

Mile 25- I hear someone say “Look! Up there is mile 25!” and I just nodded to them and kept my eyes pointed at the ground. I made a promise to myself at that moment that I would run the ENTIRE last mile, no matter HOW slow it was. And I did. I didn’t look around. I didn’t see the crowds. I could hear people cheering at me, but I didn’t want to break my concentration. It took everything I had at that point to keep my legs moving. I did glance up and see my path leading into Camden yards. I knew I was close. Really close.

Mile 26- My Dad and husband are yelling SO LOUD. I smile, and finally pick eyes up off the ground and I’m staring straight ahead. I can see the end. I pick my legs up and run faster and faster until I hear them calling my name over the mic. I did it!

My Garmin actually read 26.51 miles. My time? 6:12. I didn’t even care about my time. I walked slowly, almost in a dreamy state. Only one girl came in closely behind me. She looked at me and said “Great job..” I could hear how tired she was. I told her “great job” too and then claimed my metal. I didn’t cry. I didn’t even get emotional. I was just relieved to be done. I was now a marathoner!

3 5k's(PR 30:37)

9 Halfs (PR 2:15)

2 Metric Marathons(approx 16.28 )mile race (3:03)

Marathon - 10/12/2013 Baltimore, MD 26.51 miles 6:12

Baby girl born 6/23/14.. Starting to run again after an 11 month running hiatus.

XC- Congrats! Sounds like many exciting things have happened in your life these last few months! Getting married, finding out your going to be a mom, and finishing your first marathon, congrats on everything! So much to be proud of! Plus, a good story to tell your first child about something you both did together.

I have been lurking but not posting lately. We were gone for 2 weeks on a fabulous European vacation.

Training is going well. This weekend is my first of 2 20 milers. Did 18 2 weeks ago and that went well. Temps were perfect. My 12 this past weekend were so much harder with 85 degrees and 86% humidity.

Putting myself on the DL as the knee pain has come back with a vengeance. Rest should sort it out.

Tried to run on Saturday, but the leg muscles weren't up to going more than about 3 miles. Still too sore. Also, I earned my first DNF when I made a wrong turn at the Bacon Run and got lost. It's a long story. It helped turn my 10k into a 5k, but it kept me from pushing too hard. And I was among the first people in line for the bacon. So there are advantages to a DNF.

Darth - I didn't mention before that when I was trying to hang on to the 2:00 pacers was when you would have been about 3-3.5 hours into your marathon. And I was thinking, 'Darth may still be trying to hold a 4:00 pace at mile 19 right now, if he has the guts to try to do that, I can find enough in me to keep my pace." Guess we both fell a bit short, but it feels good to try.

Freckles - Taking it easy instead of ending up in the hospital was definitely the wise choice. And you still have Philly coming up next month!

Tracy - Hate those after work runs. Hope you get it done.

Me - 5 easy recovery miles today. My quads are reminding me that I don't run hills that often. But it's a good 'way to push yourself' ache rather than a 'what the hell have you done' ache.

Murphy-I'm probably going to give that pace another shot, but boy did that direct sunlight take it out of me. However, one thing I've learned from the pictures I've seen so far: I've lost a lot of body fat. Maybe not a lot of weight, but I'm looking a lot more lean. Maybe actually getting some weight down will make it doable in January. At mile 22 ai was thinking about how I had told you that I was OK with a blowup... so I said to myself rhat I'd have to keep trudging.

Hi everyone! New to the turtle room and happy to see that such a thread exists!

I am running my first marathon in 6 days and am beginning to freak out a bit. I am hoping to finish somewhere between 4:35-4:50, but also I am just hoping to finish my first without too much pain and agony. I'd love some advice on how to really enjoy the experience and also keep a somewhat consistent pace. I'm nervous about knowing what pace to start at and how/when to pick it up a little if I'm feeling good. Thinking about starting at about 10:45 pace and going from there. Forecast looks good-59 and sunny. It seems crazy that the race is so soon and it's really happening. Trying to remain calm and positive!

jc--I finished my first marathon last week. Stay hydrated, stay fueled, stay relaxed. Smile as much as you can and enjoy the spectators cheering for you because every positive bit helps. If your name isn't on your bib, try to put it there or on your shirt so people can cheer for you. It's okay to stop to pee if you have to. Keep a good form, no matter how slow you are. Walk if you have to, but only for a bit.

Runners World has a great article on pacing yourself by feel. It essentially says to maintain a conversational pace for the first half, a medium effort (you can still talk a bit) for the next 7 miles and a full, controlled effort for the last 10k. Of course, it's your first marathon, so expect the unexpected and trust your training.

Yuhasscience- Sounds like the bacon run was still a success. You got in 3 nice recovery miles, and then were first in line for the bacon.

JC- Welcome! Like many others on this thread I too just ran my first marathon recently (two days ago to be exact). The most important thing I can tell you is to just listen to your body. Like yuha states, it shouldn't feel like a hard effort until the last 6 miles. I made the mistake of pushing myself more than I should have between miles 14-19, and then pain for it later on in the race because my body couldn't keep up. Once you over do it, there is no was to go back and fix it... then you just have to try and finish the race with whatever you have left to work with. Plus, a strong finish will feel really good if you can pull it out at the end of the race! Don't stress too much, and enjoy your restful taper week!

darth - WOW! An hour down is no small feat! Congratulations! I know you will go sub-4.

rainy - Congratulations Marathoner! For the first the time is not important. When is the next one?

newcreation42 - Amazing time for your first! Congratulations!

Allyson - Congratulations to another newly minted Marathoner! Sounds like you had a tough time when the miles started piling up. But you are right. There will be more races. Never lost a toenail, except in surgery.

murphyO - Those damn tangents, right? I had a 2:00:12 HM some years ago that, though a PR at the time, was bugging me like hell. Knowing that you have given it all you had on the day is what makes a race great. Congrats on your 3rd fastest HM.

freckles - Bummer that you PW'ed but as you said no medics and you did cross the line.

xc - That sounds like the toughest race ever. Congratulations on your and your kids first marathon!

science - Please no more talk about the Bacon run! I'm hurting here! Bummer about the DNF though.

jcmarshall7 - Welcome! The forecast looks very good indeed. About pacing just keep yourself under control meaning don't go out too fast. And remember to stay hydrated.

me - I had a tough run last Saturday because of a late night out with friends. But its an endurance sport right?

Since Monday i am on my peak week. That started with intervals, and continued today with Hills. It was the first time ever that i climbed my hill 5 times in a session.

The weight is still dropping which is good. But i am such a crappy eater i just can't wait to carbo-load.

Hi everyone! New to the turtle room and happy to see that such a thread exists!

I am running my first marathon in 6 days and am beginning to freak out a bit. I am hoping to finish somewhere between 4:35-4:50, but also I am just hoping to finish my first without too much pain and agony. I'd love some advice on how to really enjoy the experience and also keep a somewhat consistent pace. I'm nervous about knowing what pace to start at and how/when to pick it up a little if I'm feeling good. Thinking about starting at about 10:45 pace and going from there. Forecast looks good-59 and sunny. It seems crazy that the race is so soon and it's really happening. Trying to remain calm and positive!

If you want to have a good time, run at the slowest end of the spectrum of paces you think is realistic. Then, on top of that walk through all water/aid stations.

XC to Crazy. Lots of congratulations. I've never been pregnant, but I have been married to a midwife for many years. She teaches and lived that one of the best thing a pregnant woman can do for her baby is stay in shape. So keep up the good work.

Allison G: Congrats. You can be really proud for holding it together the last few weeks and getting to the finish. As good as you look in the avatar photo, nobody in their right mind will notice your toe nail.

Darth, great pr and you have a good few years of improvement ahead of you. You're probably right about the weight. Work = Weight * Distance

Thank you SOO much to everyone who read and commented on my race report. I know I could have done better, but I can't do anything about that now. I slacked off a bit on training towards the end because I was getting burnt out.. then I find out i'm pregnant 3 days before the race. So ultimatley, I decided to take it slow and just do it. I'm so glad I did! I'm feeling pretty darn good today and don't feel like I ran any long distance at all. Even thinking about taking a nice walk tonight.

3 5k's(PR 30:37)

9 Halfs (PR 2:15)

2 Metric Marathons(approx 16.28 )mile race (3:03)

Marathon - 10/12/2013 Baltimore, MD 26.51 miles 6:12

Baby girl born 6/23/14.. Starting to run again after an 11 month running hiatus.

Sorry, life called (so did work) and I've been away a bit. Seems like quite a lot went on while I was gone!

Welcome to new turtles! Congrats to those who finished; "don't be discouraged" to those who didn't; and kudos to those who achieved a goal.

My marathon is this Sunday and the weather looks pretty good so far, so sorry to those who were expecting me to make a designer Gucci Garbage bag. However I've supplied a glimpse of something else to those of you wanting a suitable amusing replacement.

I've been on taper mode and unfortunately it has been very "unturtle-like". I guess I'm the type that just keeps wanting to do better. I just shaved almost a minute off my 5K record pace today (yeah, I'm sure that isn't the way you're supposed to taper).

Something tells me my fast running today has to do with a novel idea I had to add something to my sneaks for the marathon (had to try them out first):

Something about these that makes you want to run faster when others see you with them.

GDR - Slow down. Now. You are running fast because your legs are fresh in taper. That is the point. Keep them fresh. The winged shoe link gave me an error.

jc -Welcome! What marathon are you running? What are you basing your 'hoped for' pace on? What plan are you using? Absent any other info, I think starting out at 10:45, if that's a pace that makes sense to you and hanging with that through at least the first ten miles is a good idea. Then if you feel like it you can gradually shave a few seconds off per mile. But for your first with a goal of not being miserable at the finish, I suggest running pretty conservatively til mile 20 at least. Most 'blow ups' seem to happen between 18-20, it seems. Most importantly, run so that you enjoy it. Yeah, it should be really really hard by the end, b/c it's a marathon. If it were easy everyone would do it. But there's a difference between "man, this is hard, but I'M GOING TO DO IT! WOOHOO!" And "This is the most miserable thing I've ever done and I can't even believe I paid money for this and I am NEVER doing it again." I've had both kinds of marathons, and I totally recommend the former experience for your first one.

Murphy O & atr7 - I know you guys are right...gotta think more than that and I should know better. Thanks for the advice! Next marathon, I'll try harder to stick to the plan. This time out, I jumped in to the plan very late and had never tapered before, so it ended up being a mix of my old running with the new plan. Luckily I didn't do any damage.

Thanks so much for the welcome everyone! I appreciate the advice to take it easy and enjoy it. I am battling a cold, so I'm crossing my fingers that I feel close to 100 % on race day. 4 days away!!

murphy0--I am running the Denver Rock and Roll. I ran my run longs between 10:30 and 11:00, so 10:45 seems like a pretty relaxed pace that I can keep for a while, then gauge how I feel. You touched on my biggest fear, of it being so hard that I'm like WHY I AM DOING THIS?! I'd much rather feel like it's hard but that I know I can do it. Right now I feel physically prepared (except for this pesky cold), but am trying to psych myself up mentally.

Sounds like running is going well, cold temps for some of you, me I had 54 today on my morning run...little chilly at first but then warmed up...it was gorgeous!! Perfect time of year now in Phoenix!!! Did 7 today, have LR tomorrow at 15-15.5 ramping these up slowly.....

good running murphy, the hills in maui killed my quads, finally getting back to form, i don't know how you do those bridge repeats..i guess you get used to it!!!

RFR-brrr sounds chilly where you are....but good job on the morning runs!!!

You touched on my biggest fear, of it being so hard that I'm like WHY I AM DOING THIS?! I'd much rather feel like it's hard but that I know I can do it.

jc--in my marathon, I had BOTH thoughts. I was absolutely miserable at miles 20-26. At 26, I was wondering why I was doing it AND knew I could finish and pretty much wanted the damn thing to be over with. I used a repetitive mantra that matched my pace to keep me going through mile 26. Plus, watching the spectators was a good distraction. Taper week is a great week to work on your mental game.